


labradorescence

by vespirus



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Autism, Autistic Character, Bisexual Male Character, M/M, Multi, Post-Crystal Kingdom and onwards with spoilers, Stimming, Trans Character, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-08-20 09:27:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8244338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vespirus/pseuds/vespirus
Summary: Labradorescence: a play of colors or colored reflections exhibited especially by labradorite and caused by internal structures that selectively reflect only certain colors.
The stone shimmered blue and yellow as he turned it over in his hands.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> just saying straight up, end game is lucas/magnus/johan/avi because i Love it. magnus is who the bisexual and autistic and trans tags refer to, though pretty much everyone is ND, non straight, and non cis.
> 
> this is written without a beta so if there's any mistakes they're all mine and let me know and i'll try and fix them! please enjoy <3

They had parted ways to their separate rooms after they swept away most of the Candlenights trash and put away the half empty wine glasses and trays of cookies and biscuits and macaroons. Magnus had taken off his armor and shield and changed into softer clothes. He was down to his boxers (they had dogs on them, he’d gotten them at Fantasy Costco and the little cartoon dogs were so cute!) and he was unhooking his binder when he looked down and saw the necklace from the laboratory which had been their link to Lucas.

He shrugged off the rest of the binder and dropped it onto the floor to join the rest of his growing mess of worn clothes. He peeled off his gloves and wrapped one around the farspeech stone, reverently tugging it off over his head and sitting down on his bed to look at it. He tightened his shoulders as the sharp crack of Lucas breaking his stone reverberated through his head. He looked at the necklace, a chunk of polished labradorite with thick black cord knotted around it in triangles to keep the stone in place and then looping up into an adjustable necklace cord. It flashed in the light as he tilted it and watched the blue, green, orange, and yellow iridescence shift and shine. He leaned forward, paused, and then said in a soft voice,

“Hello?”

He waited and it felt like even the air was frozen in place.

“Lucas?”

Everything was still, unmoving, and Magnus was reminded of standing in the middle of a crystallized room in the lab.

“It’s me. Magnus. Are you there?”

He wet his lips and tapped the stone a few times with a finger.

Nothing.

He shook the stone hard and rapped against it with a fist, flinching when it released a short buzz of static. The connection really was gone then. He sighed out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding in. He scrubbed a hand over his face and set the stone on his bedside table, leaning back and folding into the chenille blanket and fluffy pillows. He looked at the stone on the side table and let out a bigger sigh.

“I guess I really _won’t_ see you again, then.”

With that muttered statement, he clicked off his lamp and rolled over to go to sleep.

* * *

  


It’s weeks later when he wakes up and all he’s thinking about is what Carey could have in store for him today and what wood he’s going to have her try and whittle today and he’s pulling on his clothes and shoes and gloves on autopilot and he doesn’t notice until Carey’s got him in a headlock and the necklace is dangling from his neck for all the world to see. She flipped him over hard on to the floor and stood over him.

“What’s up with the stone? Isn’t that the one from the lab?”

Magnus rubbed his fingers on his cracked lips and huffed.

“Yeah. I thought it was cool so I kept it. And maybe I can use it again sometime instead of having to get a new farspeech stone, y’know?” He doesn’t meet her eyes though he doesn’t know why he feels like he’s lying. He doesn’t know why he’s kept it.

Carey hummed disbelievingly but let the subject drop. They continue with their training, and Magnus remembered to tuck the necklace away the next time they spar.

* * *

  


He’d always been one for fidgeting. His hands are never still: always chewing on his fingers or tapping or rubbing or playing with something. He’d tried to keep toys on hand to keep himself occupied, but most of them he’s lost over the years.

Talking to himself is nothing new either. He’d always muttered to himself as he worked or been heard whispering half a conversation to himself while deep in thought. Julia used to tease him about it relentlessly; talking to his woodwork like Sophie to her hats in Fantasy Howl’s Moving Castle. He doesn’t realize he’s doing it most of the time but he’s not embarrassed about it really these days -- Magnus is sure his traveling companions have heard him talk to himself before, and they’ve met people with stranger quirks.

The necklace turns into an outlet for both these habits. He runs his hands up and down the braided cord to feel the bumpy spiral texture, picks at the places it’s netted around the stone, rubs the stone over his lips and revels in the contrasting textures of smooth, cold labradorite and bumpy, oily cord. He can curl his hand around it and rub it and play with it while he thinks or walks or listens. 

In the late hours when he’s pacing up and down his room and rubbing his fingers, he’d talk to Lucas. Well, Lucas’s stone. As if it were Lucas.

“Carey’s still working on the duck for Killian. I’m really glad that she and Killian have got each other. They’re real sweet together.”

“I think I’m getting the hang of this rogue thing, I was able to steal Johan’s bag when he wasn’t looking. I gave it back of course -- I was hoping we could have a good laugh over it together. I think he’s starting to warm up to me.”

“I worked out with Avi today. We spotted each other. It was really fun, Avi’s a nice guy. A good sense of humor.”

“Hey. I was thinking about what happened.. I dunno. Back at the lab. I hung out with Killian and Carey today and I almost forgot that Killian didn’t know you were alive. Carey knows and she’s really cool about it. Killian would probably hunt you down though, if she knew. I guess all relationships have their secrets between them.”

“Oh my god, Lucas, so today Taako brought us some macaroons. They were okay, not amazing, but he said that Angus had made them. That’s really sweet. I’m glad to see them getting along more -- I think we were too harsh on Ango at first. He’s a sweet kid.”

“Merle’s been on vacay a while now, I hope he’s doing alright. Do you think he’s having fun? Probably making lots of lewd comments to the Director. Hah.”

“..You really fucked up. Y’know? You really screwed us over, back there. I dunno. I get why you did what you did, but I wish you hadn’t lied. I wish you hadn’t paralyzed us and run off. I tried to defend you.”

“I liked you a lot. Like, I guess.. I still do. Like you. A lot. I dunno.”

“I wish we could talk. I miss you. I wish you hadn’t broken your stone.”

“I wish you could hear me.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Flagon of Super Alcohol finally gets used.

Robbie was in jail but there were still places to go to get  _ fucked up _ if you looked.

He’d given Carey the duck and ring and watched her leave with a blue blush and an optimistic sparkle to her scales. He’d smiled warmly at the sight, but that evening found him knocking back his third or fourth Flagon of Super Alcohol. He’d been filling it with some panforsaken drink he’d managed to get from a gnome in one of the dorms which tasted like black licorice (the worst kind) and had almost a similar consistency (which he didn’t want to think on for too long). The nice thing about living on the Bureau Moon Base was that, if he wanted to get supremely smashed he was forced to do it in the privacy of his own room, and so was saved the public embarrassment this was sure to have amounted to.

He sat in his bed with his back up against the wall, staring across the room at his Jess the Beheader poster. He’d gotten it signed after the Rockport Limited mess was cleared up. He’d chatted with her briefly and she’d said she would be meeting up with a couple of her girlfriends (not girl friends,  _ girlfriends _ ) during the hype tour, and if Magnus wanted to stop by and say hey that would be fine with them.

Fucking. Killian and Carey. And Sloane and Hurley. And Avi and Johan. And Jess and her seven (7) girlfriends. And Taako and a  _ lot _ of guys from what Magnus can gather. Everyone had somebody except him. And he did! He had somebody! She was just. Not available.

(“Dead. She’s dead.” He said aloud to remind himself. He shouldn’t try and hide from the truth.)

He’s happy to see his friends happy. He loves his friends and one of the biggest things he enjoys in life is seeing people he loves happy. But it just hurts sometimes. When he thinks about it. When he thinks about the rosewood engagement ring he’d carved for Carey and Killian that was so akin to the one he painstakingly had whittled for Julia. When he thinks about how he used to smile and look at his hands the way Jess did when she talked about her girlfriends. When he thinks about how Julia used to snuggle into his side on cold nights the way Avi burrowed into Johan’s.

“This sucks.” Being alone sucks. Remembering those days sucks.

Magnus looked blearily down at his hand where he held the farspeech stone. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, wiping his nose and reaching over to put the Flagon on his nightstand with a  _ clunk _ . He reclined back again and held up the stone to get a better look at it. It shimmers the same blue and yellow as always, but at this point it felt mocking. The other line: dead. Nothing. Broken. Just like always. The line empty because Lucas had smashed it because Lucas had to dabble in necromancy because he couldn’t accept the reality of death.

Lucas, who had asked him in such an accusatory way what  _ he _ would do in Lucas’s position, as if Magnus couldn’t understand what he went through.

“You’ve got another thing fucking coming, Luc.” His voice rumbled, gruff with alcohol. This is his chance to give that high and mighty scientist boy a real chewing out that he never got the chance to deliver to his face

“How can you fucking act like that? How can you pretend like no one else has lost anyone else they care about, like no one else knows what it’s like to have the person they revolve around die? Like nobody could understand what it’s like having your world ripped out from under you?

“News flash, dude. I’ve been there. I’m there. And I haven’t resorted to fucking necromancy to bring her back. There’s a point where you just have to move on. Don’t think you can look down on me. My wife’s dead. Just fuck off.”

He itched the palm of his hand and laid down to put his head on a pillow. He’s so fucking tired. He’s so fucking lonely. He just wanted Julia back and he didn’t know what to do or if he could be in a relationship with anyone else. He heaved out a sigh and readjusted the pillows.

He stared at the necklace for a while and zoned out. After a while he sniffled and wiped his nose with his hand. He scratched absently at his sideburn and sighed.

“You suck. This sucks. I hate this.”

He glared at his hands and then unfolded and leaned over to put the necklace back on his nightstand where it always went.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.”

A weak voice trembled from the stone. Magnus clenched the necklace in surprise, swallowing hard. It was Lucas. Speak of the devil. Magnus didn’t know what to say but before he had to respond, Lucas continued.

“I fucked up. Like, a lot. I really fucked up. I screwed you and all you guys over a lot and I’m really sorry. I wish I hadn’t. God. Fuck. God, I’m sorry.”

Magnus sucked in a breath through his teeth, not sure what to say. He didn’t know if this was really Lucas, or how long he’d been able to hear through the stone. It must have been Lucas though, no one else would know the stone’s frequency. Why would he enchant a new stone just to try and tune in to a necklace Magnus had? Lucas wouldn’t even know he still had it. This was all kinds of weird.

“Everything’s so messed up now. I wish I could come back to the Bureau,” Lucas sounded like he was getting pretty choked up now, “but I can’t. They’ll kill me and it’s my fault and I’m sorry. I don’t know. You’re like super drunk right now, right? If you remember anything about this just know that I’m sorry.

“I fixed the stone a few weeks ago.. It was just like, wishful thinking. I didn’t think anyone would have kept it after what happened. But I heard you talking and I just--Nevermind. I’m sorry. You should go to sleep. From what I heard you drank a lot. Get some rest.”

The line went silent again, and Magnus thought he might’ve clicked it off. The Director had told him how to do that once they got back, though he was never able to tell if it worked or not when he did it.

Lucas, though. Wow. Magnus had to admit, he did  _ not _ see that coming. He put the stone down gently on the bedside table and flopped his blankets over himself. He looked at the necklace one last time before clicking the light off. He’d worry about this in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus gets The Talko

“What’s up, Mag man?”

Magnus looked up from his book to see Taako leaning against his doorframe. He was wearing a black dress that had some sort of cape or suit tails attached to it. Magnus would never understand his fashion sense. He noticed Magnus’s appraisal and lifted his hands and did a twirl.

“I’m going for a drink with Killian and Carey later. What do you think?”

“It looks great.”

Taako smiled smugly.

“Hell yeah it does. That’s not what I’m here about though. What’s got you down, my dude? And don’t pretend you’re not ‘cause I  _ know _ you haven’t been getting any sleep. I can’t appreciate my natural born elven alertness with you pacing up and down in the next room all night.”

Magnus shifted hesitantly in his seat. He didn’t want to talk about it with Taako since he knows Taako and Merle don’t hold any love for Lucas. But then again, who else would he talk to? Avi, Johan? The Voidfish? He trusted them all, sure, but this was on another level of personal and a mess of emotions that would be better understood by someone who was there in the lab.

Carey or Killian then? No, he’d told Killian Lucas was dead. Maybe Carey, but it would take some more time training together before he felt comfortable talking about such personal stuff with her.

Taako was a good guy, he had issues too Magnus knew. He was as good as any to confide in. And Taako may talk a lot but Magnus thinks he knows more than he lets on -- he would never tell anyone something Magnus told him in confidence.

Probably.

“What if.. I have a friend.”

“Oh, don’t be silly Mag! You don’t have any friends.” Taako joked, crossing his arms and settling in to listen. Magnus rolled his eyes and continued on haltingly.

“I have a friend. Who has a stone of farspeech… And it’s connected to a guy who.. My friend hates. And the guy he hates is like, supposed to be dead..”

“Oh, is this about you and Lucas? You should’ve said so earlier!” Taako laughed and Magnus felt his face flush.

“What! Of course not!”

“Come on, Burnsides. I may be about as sharp as a box of rocks but I’m not a  _ complete  _ fool.” Taako’s lips quirked up in a smirk as Magnus stood up, rubbed his hands together, and started pacing back and forth. Taako moved to the desk chair and lounged to watch while Magnus huffed to himself.

“I dunno I just -- I kept the stone after all the stuff in lab. And I keep thinking about Lucas all the time. He betrayed us but also I really trusted him? And I feel like I understand where he’s coming from with what happened even if it was a bad thing to do. But I just kept thinking about him once we got back and i still had the stone so I started, I dunno, talking to it and stuff. Isn’t that supposed to be therapeutic? I don’t want to keep everything bottled up, that never ends well. But I’ve been talking to it a lot like it was Lucas and I thought he couldn’t hear me because you know he…”

Magnus stopped and swallowed, scratching his cheek and looking at the wall. While Magnus was rambling, Taako had started going through the things on the desk, pushing around papers and half whittled wood and clothes. He pushed a jacket and looked at it curiously when he felt something more solid in it, and unfolded it to reveal the farspeech stone in question. He held it up to the light as Magnus continued.

“He broke the pendant. On his side. So he shouldn’t have been able to hear me, right? But last night I heard him talk back through it. I dunno, maybe I just imagined it. I was really drunk.”

Magnus rubbed his finger on his lips and sighed.

“Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.”

“I dunno, Magster,” Taako hummed, turning the necklace in his hands, “Sounds like some bullshit that dude would pull. We can ask Merle if he knows anything about farspeech magic.”

Magnus looks over at him but looks away again quickly when he sees Taako holding up the stone. He scraped the ends of his fingernails over the wedge between his bottom teeth and sucked in a breath.

“Yeah. Later though. It’s like 3 in the morning in Moon Time. I should get some sleep and Merle probably wouldn’t appreciate getting shaken awake for a question about stone magic that could wait until the next morning.”

Taako hmmed liltingly, sounding like he would like to find out how much Merle would enjoy that, but he stood up and snuggled the stone back into the jacket it had been wrapped in and passed Magnus to leave. He kept a brown hand (with magical iridescent nail polished fingers) on the doorway and looked back to wink at Magnus.

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, my man. Sleep well.”

The “sleep well” was said with a leer and Magnus’s face grew hotter and he closed the door soundly behind Taako once the wizard had slunk out.

Great, another thing to put off for the next day’s worries. What a great habit to develop.

Not.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cotton and Thoughtin' ft. Merle

Magnus raised his hand to knock on Merle’s door, glancing back at Taako once more for reassurance. Taako gestured for him to just do it already. Magnus rapped twice on the hardwood door and a muffled “Come in!” came out a moment later. Magnus swung the door open and soft white smoke billowed out. Magnus walked in waving his hand to clear the smoke away from his eyes and spotted Merle reclining in the corner and vaping.

“Hey boys!” Merle waved cheerily from where he was sinking into a bean bag that was almost as big as he was.

“Hey Merle.” (Neutral tone but positive lilt, Magnus)

“Good Morning.” (Over the top and sly sounding, Taako)

Taako surveyed the room and gravitated towards the light wood desk and dresser, made special for Merle by Magnus, that were set up on one side of the room along with some psychedelic posters. He started digging around in the drawers curiously, but Merle and Magnus disregarded it since that was what he seemed to do every time he came into one of their rooms.

Magnus focused his attention on Merle, and sat on the couch along the wall next to Merle’s bean bag, facing him over the couch’s low armrest. Merle raised an eyebrow and took another chunky rip of cotton off his vape. He exhaled the fruity smelling smoke out of his nose, smirking to himself proudly. He looked back at Magnus and took the pen away from his mouth.

“What’s the visit for? Something eatin’ at you?”

Magnus shrugged noncommittally and chewed at his lip.

“Magnus has  _ a friend _ who wanted to know about farspeech stones.”

Taako drawled from where he had his butt perched on the edge of the desk and was leaning back, purposely posed in between the wall scrolls and posters tacked up around him. Merle scratched his beard thoughtfully.

“Well, I think I might’ve read a couple books about it at Pan’s Magical Boarding Academy School For Boys. What did you wanna know?” Magnus rubbed his fingers against his dry lips nervously before asking.

“Once one of the stones in a link is broken, can you make another stone and tune it to that frequency so that other people from that link can hear you and stuff?”

Merle hmmed for a couple minutes and then finally nodded sagely.

“Yeah, they can. I think. Why, your friend drop their stone or somethin’?”

“Uhh yeah, something like that.” Magnus picked at his binder’s neckline. It was silent and when he looked up, Merle was giving him a stern, dad-ly look through his Awareness Frames. He tapped on the True Heart Clasp clipped into his beard and gave Magnus a You-Should-Know-Better look.

“You know that’s not foolin’ me, kiddo. Now what’s really going on? Don’t make me bust out a truth zone on ya.” Magnus could hear an overdramatic sigh from behind him in Taako’s direction. Magnus relented, looking down at his hands as he fidgeted with the seams on the couch arm.

“Okay. You remember Lucas?” He paused and glanced at Merle to see him nod and continued. “Well. He had that stone, y’know. And he broke it right before that big fight we had. And I kept it anyways and I’ve been talking to it some and the other night I heard him talk back and  _ I think he made a new stone to talk to me _ .”

Magnus inhaled heavily after his rushed speech and rubbed the pads of his hand over his lips and nose as he waited for the response. What he got was a huff of vapor in his downturned face. He squinched his nose and waved it away, looking back up at Merle who was tapping his teeth lightly on the pen’s mouthpiece. Merle moved the pen away from his mouth and turned more fully towards Magnus.

“Look. Kid. That’s alright with me. Just be careful, alright? Lucas is kind of a douche.” Merle’s lips quirked up at the last bit and he chuckled and Magnus laughed wetly. Merle leaned forward conspiratorially and Magnus reflexively leaned in to listen.

“And just between me and you kid, he’s pretty hot. So I’m not blaming you for getting a crush.”

Magnus made a sound like something was stuck in his throat and flushed dark red. He leaned back into the couch and rubbed his fingers together, huffing and looking determinedly at his hands as Taako cackled and Merle rumbled a laugh. Magnus huffed some more and stood up, heading towards the door. Taako patted him on the shoulder as he passed, and Magnus stopped to look at Taako and Merle and muttered a blushing

“Thanks. I  _ guess _ .”

And left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Magnus sequestered himself in his room for the rest of the day. He paced and thought and tapped his fingers and chewed on the strings of his jacket and rubbed his fingers. His eyes kept getting drawn back to the stone. What could he say? He wanted to reach out but his thoughts were all mixed up in his head and he couldn’t figure out the words to phrase what he wanted to express to Lucas. 

He eventually brought the stone up close to his lips and spoke hoarsely.

“...Lucas?”

He gulped.

“...This is Magnus.”

Lucas already  _ knew _ that! Why did he say that?! He’s making a fool of himself.

Magnus was berating himself in his head when he heard a familiar (cute) nasal voice emit from the stone.

“..Hey Magnus.”

Magnus scratched his sideburn nervously and then just went for it.

“Look… Shit went really south, back in the lab. And it sucked. But. I don’t regret standing up for you. Or. Saving you.”

He could hear an audible swallow from the other end and then a soft

“Thanks.”

And then his door opened and Taako was in the threshold, carrying a tray of buttery bread and mac and cheese and simple desserts. Magnus started and fumbled with the stone, hearing Lucas choke with surprise on the other end, too.

“Comfort food for the big man himself,” Taako announced with a smirk, striding in and pushing Magnus’s things off his desk without even a thought to make room and set the tray down. Taako looked back at him and saw the stone in his hand and smirked again.

“Talkin’ to Lucas?”

Lucas coughed and muttered a “yeah” from the other end as Taako moved closer.

“Still pretty pissed at you, nerd boy. Be good to Magnus, alright? Or else me and Merle might have to take.. Measures.”

Taako’s shoulders shook with silent laughter at the spluttering from Lucas that followed, and looked at Magnus and tipped his head to the food before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Magnus huffed a quiet laugh and pulled out the chair to his desk, looking over the tray of food from Taako. Looked like Taako had made some of his favorites, though Magnus didn’t even know he had told Taako his favorite foods. Magic users.

For the rest of the night Magnus tucked into the dinner and talked to Lucas. Things were kind of weird, kind of awkward, and a little stilted.. but it was a start.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I Love You, Man (2009) ft. Magnus and Avi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a long while since i updated this, sorry!! ;___; im hoping to work on it more now, especially with the uptick of negative content in the taz section here. also this ends on a bit of a bittersweet note but itll be sorted out soon enough lads............. also the music avi puts on in the background is a shuffle but the song while he confesses is "lovelovelove" by In Love With A Ghost (track 6 on here https://inlovewithaghost.bandcamp.com/album/diary-2012-2014)

Magnus wouldn’t admit it but he was getting attached to Lucas. They talked every day, about anything and everything. Magnus regaled stories about his spars and previous battles (though he  _ may _ have built himself up in them. Just a little.). Lucas had him laughing through stories about how he used to antagonize his mother and Lucretia when he was a kid. They complained about little things: how Taako left a trail of mess behind him wherever he went, how long it took to sweep a lab  _ that big _ .

His sleeping started to mold around the time Lucas was awake. He stayed up late into the night for Lucas’s low sad voice telling him how Lucretia was his second mother and how he regretted how he’d pushed her away. Yawning out an old, old story of back when he was still apprenticed to Steven. He cat napped around the base in between training and meals because he didn’t have enough time to go to his room.

He wore the necklace constantly now, tucked in between his binder and his shirt. It wasn’t heavy and he easily forgot it was there but he would rub and bite the string absentmindedly and whenever he stretched there was the comforting pull of it around his neck.

The time he wasn’t talking to Lucas he spent in the company of the rest of his friends. He trained with Carey and sparred with the rest of them but most of their time on the base was spent hanging out. He took Avi up on his offer of lifting some weights. Johan started keeping an extra chair out for when he would drop by to sit in comfortable silence. He made sure to put aside time to spend with the boy detective himself, whether listening to wild stories of exploits (Angus was shy to admit if they were invented or not) or teaching him woodworking or carrying him from dome to dome on his broad shoulders.

Avi blushingly showed Magnus to his room one day. It turned out he and Johan bunked together in a suite not too far from the Voidfish. Their things were mixed together but it was easy to tell the weights and running shoes were Avi’s and the speakers and band posters were Johan’s. Magnus settled on Avi’s semi-made bed while Avi fiddled with the speakers and set up some low music.

They sat against the wall and talked for a while, their legs bumping and faces close. It was comfortable. They lapsed into silence, listening to the soft electro tracks playing. Avi hunched forward, hugging a pillow, and stared at a wall. He chewed on his lip and avoided looking at Magnus as Magnus leaned forward in concern to catch a look at his face.

Avi turned his head towards Magnus without looking at him and his brown cheeks were dark red. He swallowed and spoke in a rushed nervous voice.

“Hey, Mag. Magnus. I, um, Johan told me I should tell you.”

“That you and Johan are dating?”

“No--Well, yes, but not really. Like, um. You’re uh, you’re really cool. And strong. And super nice and just a really great bro and a great friend and I love you a lot, man. I.. I kind of. Totally have a big crush on you, man. And Johan too. He does too, I mean. I mean he has a crush on you too. And we’re poly so it’s like, a thing. That we could do. I mean--”

“I get you, Avi. It’s cool.”

Magnus said it kindly but his hand tightened on the blanket thinking about the stone around his neck. And Lucas. And how Lucas probably heard that, if he had been listening to his side of the stone.

Avi lightly put a sweaty hand on Magnus’s arm and Magnus realized he had zoned out. He looked at his best friend who looked, for lack of a better word, sad. He was chewing on his lip and his eyes were starting to shine with water and as soon as Magnus looked at him he burst out with

“I fucked up didn’t I! I’m sorry, man… I just. Wanted to say something. Things don’t have to change, it’s no big deal. I just really love you man and I wanted you to know. I guess. I’m sorry. Fuck!”

Magnus covered Avi’s hand with his and gave the best smile he could muster.

“It’s okay Avi. I’m really flattered. You’re a really great friend and I love you too. But I need some time to think, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah! Of course! No problem! I don’t… I don’t want this to affect our friendship or anything, y’know, I don’t want it to be weird…”

“Yeah.”

Magnus ended up going back to his room, leaving Avi to overanalyze everything in peace. He closed his door silently and pulled off his shirt and flopped on his back onto his bed. He listened to his own breathing for a few minutes when

“Um.”

Lucas’s voice shakily came through the stone. Magnus’s eyelids lowered and he sighed slightly as Lucas continued.

“Um, I think--”

“I’m going to bed.” Magnus proclaimed to his ceiling fan and rolled back off the bed to change fully. He put the necklace on his bedside table and pulled on the weighted blanket Taako had enchanted for him. He would stay up for a while thinking, but he’d rather do it in the dark. He turned out the lamp and the last thing he saw in the dark was the soft blue-green rainbow glow of the stone as Lucas replied with a soft

“Goodnight.”


End file.
